Even in Heels
by BlackRabbit0
Summary: [Post Destroy Ending] Shepard and Garrus have the jitters. One never thought she'd find a day of predictability and peace and the other. Well, he never knew he'd marry one hell of an amazing woman, let alone have his family support their marriage. Mostly fluff.
1. Chapter 1

She paces around the room, feverishly rubbing her hands together to the point her skin stung bright red. It's just so she wouldn't be so tempted to run her fingers through her recently styled red hair. Her thin snow white slip runs cool against her skin as she marches between the couch and the mirror. Good lord, she's not ready. Like hell she'd be ready. The amount of time put into planning this simply isn't enough. They had far less time prepping themselves for suicide missions and things turned out for the better. This though. This feels much more nerve-wracking than destroying the Collectors' base and shutting down all the Reapers permanently. The pounding of her heart back then has nothing on the flips her stomach has been doing since this morning. At this point, everything just seems to ache. Her feet in those pinchy white heels, the pins holding her hair in place digging into her scalp, her head just pounding endlessly.

God, weddings are awful.

Normally, she has nothing against weddings. They're a wonderful time to celebrate! You get to be happy for the couple getting married, great food, dancing – albeit she often stayed off the dance floor. Every wedding she's attended in the past never left her with a frown. After all the crap she has to go through being in the military, a wedding is one of the greatest things that could happen. Her own, though, would probably leave her pale, cold, and aiming to escape through one of the chapel's windows.

At this point, she'd rather be on another suicide mission. Crazy, but at least those didn't leave you nauseous. Can't feel nausea if you're busy tearing Reapers apart. Sometimes.

After so much pacing, Jane decides to give her feet a rest and not bleed on her pinchy ivory heels. She stares at herself in the mirror. At the hours put into putting her dark red hair into soft curls and braids that swing at the back of her head. The makeup feels a bit heavy on her face, soft jade eyeshadow helping highlight her emerald orbs. Her lips had been painted a shiny pink-red shade earlier. The one thing on her face that looks relatively normal aside from her freckles.

She doesn't have a problem with getting married. Hell, it shouldn't be a problem; they deserve it after all they went through. Everything they've shared may have been due to the fact they might be on their way to death's door, but the main part of it had been the trust and burdens they donned on their shoulders. To lead is one thing, but leading a group of loyal fighters and skilled soldiers into battle would always be a taxing responsibility. Garrus understood that after having a squad of his own at some point. They both knew just how hard it was to get a job done and come back alive. To tell families of the fallen that their loved ones had died under their watch while following their orders. It used to make her feel like a cold, heartless soldier for it, but Garrus always fished her out of those dark thoughts when she fell in.

Garrus had always been there and she knows he always will be. He'd always be watching her six whether she likes it or not. She trusts her crew all the same, but he has always been the one who would give her the answers she needed. Jane hardly sought sympathy alone; when it would be too much, she would vent to him. And if she didn't want to simply let it out, Garrus had been that comforting distraction or that voice of reason. The rest of the time, he was honest with her. He told her his thoughts on some decisions. He was the anchor that kept her from drifting into the endless speculations that always started with "What if". To cut it short and simple, she loves him. She would do anything for him and being able to actually marry him is so far her greatest joy.

So why the hell can't she get her shit together for this day?

"Shepard? May I come in?"

Shepard looks at the owner of the sweet voice and relief seems to relax her shoulders a bit. "Yeah. Come in." She gestures to the couch and smiles at her friend. Liara is one of the bridesmaid for this occasion and of course she had herself set on track. Her eyes seem to beam with the help of her silvery eye shadow and her lips are stained a darker shade of blue, almost navy. Her dress is strapless and snug with thin lines of silver going down the side of her dress which spilled into a flowery pool of sky blue on the floor. "You look gorgeous. What's the occasion?"

Liara smiles at her commander and friend and crosses her legs. "My commanding officer is getting married. Even better, one of my closest friends is about to get the rest and peace she deserves." She eyes the woman carefully. "You are not dressed yet. Is something the matter?"

"Well-"

They both turn as they heard the door burst open."You want to know what's the matter?" A familiar voice snaps as she steps into the room, hastily shutting the door behind her. "Grunt and Wrex are headbutting over who gets to be the best man." She quickly wipes a bit of what seemed to be food – hopefully dextro - off her mask. "And they're both drink of Ryncol! Keelah, I feel sorry for whoever cleans up their mess."

Liara and Shepard trade glances briefly before focusing back on the young Quarian. "I thought James and Kaiden were his best men." Shepard states.

Tali shakes her head then brings her hands up to fix her ceremonial hood. Light orchid with thin gold loops drape over her head and mask. The fabric at her waist hangs and flow over most of her lower body but exposed her left leg which was adorned with champagne colored belts. Now if only she could just wear the outfit without her suit.

"They are. It's just… Grunt and Wrex seem to have the wrong idea on what that means. Crazy bosh'tets." She sighs, shaking her head.

Shepard smiles and gestures for her to sit down. Tali gladly complies and sits with her legs crossed. "So do you plan on skipping straight to the honeymoon portion of the ceremony, Shepard?" She asks referring to the bride-to-be's lack of dress. She crosses her arm. "I'll be very upset if you do. I didn't come here in my best clothes just to see you two break protocol together. You do that enough for all of us."

The redhead rolls her eyes. "That'd be nice." And she means it. She sits in front of the vanity, this time facing her guests. "It's just jitters. I guess I'm more afraid of commitment than getting vaporized by Harbinger." Shepard laughs listlessly shaking her head. "Not sure if this is normal. To be this nervous for what should be the greatest day of my life. You'd think after everything we've been through I'd be so ready to get married, settle down, and adopt krogan children."

"Well of course you're not ready. Kee'lah Shepard, you aren't even dressed! You can't go down the aisle in your underwear!" She crosses her arms and huffs. Her head bobs once and Shepard could feel her eyes scanning her from beneath that mask. "I mean you could, but Garrus would have to work hard to keep everyone off you." It's hard to say, but she may have tossed a glance at Liara for that last part.

Liara clears her throat, shrugging off that last comment. She turns her attention to the wedding dress that hangs neatly by the mirror. "Why don't we help you into your dress? We can talk about what you're feeling while we help you get ready."

"I _should_ get ready." She mutters to herself. Shepard runs her fingers over the pearly white chiffon layers. Unlike the dress gifted to her by Kasumi, this is soft and a little more reserved. It's not tight to her skin but something about it did feel suffocating. The skirt of the dress spills into ivory on the floor, a thin shimmering veil cloaking it. Intricate markings – more importantly Garru's clan markings – adorn the waist of the dress, accenting her assets with a lovely sheen.

She watches herself in the mirror as Liara's blue fingers worked on fitting her in the dress perfectly."I… I just can't believe it. We're getting married. We'll probably live somewhere tropical and warm, live off the royals from the vids." She laughs a bit. "Maybe even find out what a Turian-human baby looks like." Her hands curl into little fists to keep from wanting to wipe the anxiety – and the makeup - off her face. There goes her habit, the little nip she gives her lower lip when she's deep in thought.

Tali steps up to her side, putting a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder. "Shepard, first off, a Turian-human offspring is impossible. And knowing you two, your child would probably start breaking rules while he's still in diapers." Tali quips. "Secondly, that sounds like a great plan. You two deserve it after what the Reapers put us through."

"Tali is right." Liara adds. "You've given us all our lives back." She zips the dress up and straightens out the wrinkles and bunches. She puts her hands on Jane's shoulders and smiles at her, nudging her to look at the bride she is. "You deserve this. A chance at something stable and peaceful."

"Stable and peaceful." She repeats quietly. That seems to just ring through her mind endlessly. Thinking about it now, she's always thought it was an impossible dream. Conflict is constant and politics has been either the start of it or the fuel to the fire. Her role as a Spectre had her dousing those metaphorical – and literal – flames constantly, endangering her and those who would run into the fray with her. With so many bullets to dodge, one was always bound to hit her one day. To put it simply, Shepard has never expected a long-lived life. She'd always thought she would die in the line of duty, out on the field shot by some Batarian or trying to trade her life for thousands of others.

Her lips curl into a small smile. "Stable and peaceful. And here I thought I was too crazy to reach that goal." She looks in the mirror again and sees the emotional scars on her face. How creases have made themselves home in the corner of her eyes and in her forehead. The split she had gotten in her lip during the battles had gifted her with a lovely scar. All these marks and white cracks in her skin show just how often she had brushed shoulders with Death. "You know, my parents were in the military. Mom still runs her ship pretty damn well. Her crew loves her even if she does kind of keep things a little too strict." She swallows the lump in her throat. "Dad would've been proud." She hopes they didn't hear the little crack in her voice just now.

"Where are you going with this, Shepard?" The Asari inquires as she straightens the hem of Shepard's dress.

"I mean… My family life was full of love as a kid, sure. But every day, I would worry about my parents because they're in the military. Every day was lived on edge thinking that one day, I'll see Hackett or some higher up at my door telling me they died in the line of duty. When they showed up with Dad's tags and hat, I just… I still think about it now. With Mom. With Garrus. With all of you, really." She looks in the mirror again. "Maybe that's why I'm so goddamn nervous. I finally have something stable in my life or close to it. I never thought the day would come. And now that it came, I'm… afraid." Her fists clench tightly, suffocating the veil they had been holding. "Nothing hurts more than having the things you love ripped away from you when you least expect it."

"Garrus is lucky." Pause. "Perhaps the concept of a carefree life is what makes you anxious. Because you don't know what it's like to be without worry. Worrying had been your crutch, Shepard. It gave you reassurance that you would do whatever it took to protect those around you. Your worries became your fears and they drove you."

"Probably better than how you drove the Mako." The Quarian quips in hopes of keeping the mood a little lighter. "But really, Shepard. You always worried about us when we could handle ourselves. Sure, we almost died a few times, but look at us now! You're getting married. This is more than just your chance at happiness and for you and Garrus to live happily ever after. This is the reassurance you really deserved. That things _will _go well." Her eyes are now those famous little white arches that would poke through the purple tint of her mask. "You can still worry, but only about bosh'tets like Grunt and Wrex."

Shepard smiles, laughing a bit as she shakes her head. "Don't forget Garrus. Turians don't know how to duck."

The Quarian scoffs. "Oh, relax. Garrus at least knows how to take cover. Maybe he'll take cover under your dress if Batarians or Cerberus ever decides to crash the wedding."

"Tali!"

"What? Kee'lah, it's not like Shepard would mind."


	2. Chapter 2

Clad in black and white, Kaiden and James stand tall with their hands behind their backs and their eyes looking over the audience. Some are dressed in their military fatigues and others in their best formal wear. Well, Jack's closest thing to formal wear was a white crop top with shreds, a black leather jacket, dark pants, and her combat boots. They look over at Grunt and Wrex, making sure they're finally behaving themselves. God, the waiters are going to need a massive tip to make up for possible bodily damages.

Garrus, however, doesn't pay attention to the food-addled waiters and the drunken tank krogan tossing Wrex's eldest baby around like the drunken uncle everyone has. No, he's busy dealing with the rapidly beating heart in his chest and the sweat building up between his plates. He checks himself again as subtle as he can to make sure he didn't have food stuck to his suit or have a wrinkle in it. He tugs at his collar a bit, letting some cool air reach beneath his cowl. Now what does he have to be nervous about? He _slept _with Shepard, took her dancing – and made a show of it in front of everyone at the club - , and took down a crap load of reapers with her for crying out loud. He loves her and he knows it so why was calming the hell down so hard to do? Thank the spirits that these two couldn't hear the nervous hum he couldn't stop from leaving his throat.

His eyes flicker between objects in the room, jumping from stained glass windows to the door where Shepard would emerge to human priest behind him. Spirits, his heart rate just seem to skyrocket every second. It's ready to jump out of his chest at this point. Did he dress well enough? Does he have his vows memorized? Maybe he should've taken off the visor. Maybe he should've taken Solana's offer on helping him prep for this. These thoughts and questions seem to keep Garrus a bit too occupied to the point he couldn't hear Kaiden and James call him out.

"… ball-and-chain?" Pause. "Garrus? 'Ey, c'mon, wake up. Don't tell me you'd rather calibrate the Normandy than be here." It's only when Garrus didn't even move or acknowledge them that James's starts snapping his fingers in front of the groom.

Garrus swallows the lump his throat and brought his head back down to Earth. "Yeah. Just fine." He hopes these two can't hear sub-harmonics. "Uh, what was the question?"

Kaiden and James's share a look, both torn between laughing at how obviously nervous Garrus is and comforting him. For one thing, who knew Turians could actually get fidgety? The other shocker is the fact that Garrus didn't have some witty comeback to throw back at them. Garrus usually has a calmer, relax demeanor than came with his bad-boy Turian attitude and quips. Now he looks like Vegas's childhood chihuahua that would jump and yelp every time someone rang the goddamn doorbell.

"The question was 'Are you ready?', Garrus." A female voice answers. Solana saunters up to the men, dressed in her captain's uniform, striking blue eyes catching her brother's brilliant ones. "You don't sound like you're ready."

For a moment, he broke free from nervousness's grasps. "Solana, you made it." His mandibles flare out, glad to see her at their wedding. "I thought you and Dad were stuck on Palaven."

"We were, but your friend, Joker, managed to pull some strings for us." She says, her voice clipped formal. He sees how her stiff expression melts into something softer, more familiar. How her mandibles relaxes and falls a little further away from her face. "I'm glad I could make it. I get to see my brother with his crap together and Dad gets to see his son finally married." Pause. "Though, just not to a Turian." She adds. "Just show me where the alcohol is so I can _try_ and shut him up if he gripes too much about it." Or get drunk herself if she fails, but that didn't need to be said.

Garrus chuckles and puts a hand on her shoulder. "It's wherever the two Krogans over there are. Just try not to arrest them, they're actually party guests here."

"Key word: Try." She reminds him. Solana pulls her brother into a hug then pulls away, locking eyes with him. "Congratulations, Garrus. Mom would've been so proud of you."

He nods then shifts his gaze to his feet then back up to his little sister. Her starry blue eyes – his mother's starry blue eyes seem solemn and wistful. While her sub-harmonics carries genuine joy, he couldn't help but pick at the little tinge of regret behind it. He can't blame her for being angry before. She had every right to and seeing her regretting it just seems to drive the knife in a little deeper. "I'm… I'm sorry-"

"No. I'm sorry." Sol interjects. "I know things were hard. And it must've been hard for you too with all the bureaucratic bull thrown your way- Don't give me that look. I don't agree with _everything _Dad tells us. Or certain protocols. " She shrugs. "I was just smarter about keeping my mouth shut about it."

It's hard to say what he feels about that last statement. Should he feel proud that his sister saw a bit of what he's been dealing with and seeing or should he be that scolding big brother he's supposed to be. "Well then, there goes the good Turian that Dad wanted." He chuckles. That's all he could muster.

"I took a page from the Normandy's book." There's a bit of pride edging her sub-harmonics. "Commander Shepard's certainly set some… standards for the young Turians back on Palaven." She smiles at him, a distinctive teasing purr emanating from her throat. "So… Your CO, huh? No wonder you're nervous."

He chuffs a laugh, his shoulders bouncing briefly. "What can I say? Shepard has that effect on people. I'm just lucky that women seem to love scars."

Solana winces, taking a sharp breath through her even sharper teeth. "Now I don't know. I mean you were pretty damn ugly to begin with, big brother… Then again, the scars _are _an improvement."

"Oh, ouch. That hurts my feelings, Sol." He dramatically whimpers and whines.

Now this is how things are supposed to be. No more wound-deepening conflicts. Something warm. Peaceful. It would be hard to live without a bit of gunfire here and there but if it meant a chance to finally relax and make peace with his family then fine. If it means keeping his loved ones close, then it's worth it. The tension between him and his family had always kept him on edge especially between him and his father. Having tension with his sister was another story. She understood Garrus's view but she understood their father's as well and as well on her way on becoming the ideal Turian. Well up until their mother had gotten sick and the Reapers shattered her leg. And he knows that he and Shepard weren't the only ones who had to make hard decisions.

He fidgets a bit, bringing his mandibles in tight against his jaw. His mom had always been a delicate topic in his family. He probably doesn't have the right to ask since he was hardly home. Since he couldn't support his father and sister when they needed him most. Still, she was his mother. "Did Mom…"

She seems to stiffen for a moment. But Sol nods, understanding what he was about to ask. She takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly, trying to keep her voice from shaking. Unfortunately, she can't hide how regret and grief lingers in her voice. She struggles to meet her brother's eyes as she tells him "She passed away peacefully." Her voice eerily calm and stable. Pause. "But I'm sure she's here watching us now."

He tilts his head up, taking air deep into his lungs. Something about that didn't sit right in his stomach. Garrus knew his mother had been suffering while he was gone and he couldn't be by her side. Another woman he loved slipped away while his back was turned. Only this time, there was no organization to revive her. He thinks about Shepard and how he couldn't be there to save her the day she died. How he spent the next six months mourning her on the job then the next six being Archangel, living up to her name and her memory. It would be nice if his mother just appears in the crowd of familiar faces just like how Shepard did in a crowd of unfamiliar ones. Another miracle waiting to happen. But all he can do is take Solana's words for what they are.

The younger Vakarian puts a hand on his face and pats it where his burn scars linger. "Hey, don't make that face. You've got a beautiful mate to sell yourself to. A beautiful, loyal, fierce mate."

"Ha, I've sold myself to her a long time ago."


End file.
